How time can sometimes be reversed
by Mizu Ryujin
Summary: What were the thoughts of Nao Tomori as Yu woke up? What emotional struggles laid beneath that neutral expression of hers? What did it mean when she was caught off guard by Yu's lack of memories?
1. The present, pleading and hopes

The sunlight shines through the opened windows, a breeze passes by throughout the room and grazes through his features. I sit there silently reading my book, still hoping for his return to our world – to finally fulfil our promises made.

I get flashbacks of the past activities with one another in the student council, saving would be victims of the powers of that children that came contact with the Charlotte comet. Still waiting.

Waiting for the fool.

Waiting for the time.

Waiting for him to finally awaken.

Waiting to greet him back.

To finally congratulate him and say that he's done more than enough.

My eyes get slightly misty eyed as I think of all the possible outcomes for when he wakes up from his slumber.

Who're you supposed to be? Cinderella?

No, you were never that kind of person.

I think back to our promise, the one that sparked this whole event.

Dummy, who keeps promises nowadays?

Yu, Yu Otosaka, that's who and me.

I turn the page, as knowledge flood my mind from the story.

" _Please Imamura, please wake up." The girl in slumber whispered uncomfortably._

 _Why would she say that when she herself won't wake up?_

I amused myself as I find myself in a very similar to the story I'm reading, staying in front of the one I would then my life with. This promptly stopped me from reading as I find myself again looking at his facial features, his jawline more refined looking more masculine than before a scar that goes vertically from the top of his right eye to the bottom.

I hear birds chirping in the background as another breeze passes through the perfectly aired out room. This time the wind catches the many strands of his raven hair, a calm and serene expression he holds on his facial features.

Time seems to always slow down as find again drawn to the sight of his rather handsome face, even though I joked about the compliment several times in the past; now I can honestly say that that this boy, no… man that I'm next to is rather attractive.

I lean towards him, as he exhales and inhales in a slow and rhythmic way.

"I'm not always gonna keep on waiting for you, you know…" I whisper by ears gently.

"So… Please, wake up soon."

I break into some tears as some fall onto his clothes, none seemingly making a change as I then wipe them.

I then focus onto reading my book again. As I again wait for the time to come.

Minutes pass by, second by second feeling like they are slowed down to a quarter.

A bearable hell is where I am, I think to myself. My mind not quite completely processing all the words and sentences I read, I am so distracted that I can't even concentrate on this story. How did this manage to happen when I would've been able to do so perfectly before?

I know the answer already but still think back to when it had happened.

Did I already feel this way prior to our promise? Was it because of the promise itself that I began seeing him in that light? Or was it because I find myself drawn to him because of the fact that he was in the exact same situation as me?

Was it because he kept his promise?

Questions fills my mind, questions I cannot fully answer.

Seconds pass by as I go through my epiphany with each passing moment still not able to come up with a better answer for such.

A third blowing breeze passes through the room yet again this time lasting longer than the others as it yet again flows pass his facial features.

His face twitches and crumples ever so slightly as he lets out a small grunt. This catches my attention as I stop reading and abruptly stop my thought process.

Hope garners within me as I wait in anticipation on what may happen – will he finally wake up? I ask myself and another million other thoughts flood my mind as I try to keep my face neutral.

His hair running down as I observe and see his eye slowly start to open.

My heart beats fast as I think about all of the things that I should tell to him. With every passing second my heart feels as if it would jump out of my chest – something I would have never expected I would feel.

Bit by bit I see that maroon-red eye show through, he's woken up! I think to myself. Relief, excitement and joy envelops my being as I begin to think about how things may happen from this point forward in time as well as having flashbacks on what had happened with us in the two years that.

Now his only functioning eye open , the brilliance of his gems radiate from him as he turns to the sounds of the chirping birds in the distance from the window.

I begin to formulate on what I say but I find my throat clogged for a second as I utter out my greeting.

"Are we finally awake?"

I silently cursed myself, sounding a bit cold. But a smile forms on my face as he turns to face me with a curious yet unreadable expression.

I then follow on saying, "Thank you for the hard work. You kept our promise."

Still looking towards me, he blinks for a bit as the world slows down yet again today.

Now that I finally get to see him awake, I can see that he still retains that rounded face of his but now looking slightly more matured, his hair longer than it was the last time I saw him and still having the confused but knowing expression he held a lot during student council activities.

He tries to sit up so that we were more on the same level.

"Ow, that hurts."

I worry a fair but ultimately judges that it is only a mild pain he feels so I instantly help him up.

"Your life's not in danger anymore so you don't have to worry but you do have to stay here for a while so you can recover."

"Ok."

He nods, responding to my statement staring blankly for a bit towards the other side of the room. Slightly nervous, he's not as talkative as he was before. But I shrug the thought as it's most likely just the sedating agent.

A brief moment passes as he turns to me again and as a small smile appears on his face.

"By the way, who are you?"

 **A/N: Sorry for being dead for months but I will try to upload some stuff when I can because I have college and stuff to do.**


	2. The past, relief and comfort

My blood ran cold as I heard those excruciatingly painful words pierce my being and felt myself involuntarily gasping.

I wanted to cry and fall apart.

I wanted to yell at him for forgetting who I was.

I wanted to shout to him who I was.

I wanted to say that he's an idiot for completing that promise.

So instead I kept those urges down, forced myself to be strong and neutral because I never actually expected for him to just come back the same.

It was an impossible task – or at least we all thought so until he went and did so himself. And even though I had the faintest of hopes that he came back the same way… I knew it was impossible.

"So that's how it goes, huh?"

If I thought of it carefully it really was impossible to come out unscathed.

"Of course that would happen wouldn't it, you absorbed tens of thousands of abilities all over the world – it's a wonder that you're still able to speak."

I kept my face neutral, hiding my true expression.

I told myself I shouldn't cry.

I told myself that this would be inevitable.

I told myself that it was all my fault for expecting too much.

But he kept his promise even though he completely forgot about it as well…

If I fulfil it, wouldn't be akin to forced marriage?

"You know, I'm your lover."

There I said it.

I actually said it.

Was there any point in keeping the promise despite him completely forgetting it?

Yes, he kept his promise and followed it through and through despite the seemingly impossible challenge. Is it not fair to keep my end of the promise?

No, you've suffered enough as it is already why go so far even though this had happened before?

Because I want to make it right this time, to finally have a happy end to this life.

You won't get that if you stay with him you know.

What are you talking about? As long as I'm by his side, I'm comfortable about it all.

Liar, stop trying to act tough. You know that more you act like that the more broken you'll only become.

"A lover? Even though I don't remember you?"

That line alone made me feel as if I was hit by a thousand arrows simultaneously at the same time. I felt it – from every fibre of my being felt it.

And it took so much willpower to overpower the pain.

"That hurt a lot more than I thought." I muttered.

That statement wasn't only true but also a reflection.

A self-reflection on how I thought that I knew all about myself – which was very much proven wrong.

And it showed.

The fact that I thought that my emotions were dulled out far too much to feel this way ever again.

The fact that I thought that the days we all spent within a student council was only "routine" – which turned out to be that this "routine" was the comfort never crossed my mind but was subconsciously sought for.

So I closed my eyes hoping for my already misty-eyes to stop ever-growingly more moist.

I hated that I somehow thought this may happen.

That was a lie again.

To be perfectly honest, I think that I can make more memories just as good as the ones previously – he'd be happier that way right?

But this isn't about him, is it? It's about what you yourself want – admit it, you yourself hoped that there'd be a happy ending.

Shut up. You're just being selfish! Imagine Ayumi's reaction, Shun-san's reaction and the rest who knew him and their reaction to this! I can't just take him for myself just because I lost, what, a year's worth of memories with him! I've got to let him reconnect with his family as well!

Yeah, so? Still means you've lost that one year's worth of memories. What makes you think he can ever reconnect the way his now with his own family? He's lost literally the 16 years' worth of memories that can never be refilled.

He'd be able to, I know.

He's completely devoid of all of his previous memories prior to the power-purge that made him this way in the first place, what makes you think that he'd still hold on to those feelings?

I just know.

No you don't, you're just scared. Scared that he'll reject you so you lie to yourself hoping the feelings will be returned.

Even so, I still want to hold on to that fleeting hope even though it's stupid to hope for.

You're right, because really that's all we have left…

"Did I make you sad just now?" I heard him speak.

I thought on how to answer.

I shouldn't respond with malice I thought, but it was so tempting.

I should be strong and act normally I thought, it was so difficult to do so.

In the end, I responded as honest as I could.

"Yes, yes you did."

I felt it was moronic looking back at how I acted.

"Because we were in the same class, we all lived our high school lives together within the student council and before you left, you even promised me that we'd be lovers…"

It's stupid to recall these things, my negative side thought.

Grasping for that tiny bit of hope that the person he once was will return was just plain childish.

Remembering such would only hurt me.

"I'm sorry… I just can't remember anything at all."

He stated in a sombre tone.

See, idiot! Even he is depressed because of your useless ramblings!

A downtrodden look fell onto his face as those words escaped from his mouth looking severely disappointed.

I'm so stupid, I thought to myself. I just had to make the situation much worse didn't I?

Negativity clouded my mind as I see him eyeing the flashcards I gave to him when he left.

A small wave of relief and a miniscule part of me felt happy.

How could I not? Seeing as they had proven useful to him and kept it all his journey still gave me that fleeting feeling deep within my chest.

"Those flash cards… I made those."

My I still felt disheartened, but learning about such made a part of me relief that I needed.

"So you held onto them until the very end. Did they prove to be useful?"

Knowing about that small fact still made me happy deep down. Away from the confusion and sadness that I tried to ignore.

"So it was you who made these?" I the warmth that is buried within that question.

The same warmth I've long been looking for in the past year.

"Yes." I responded immediately.

I found myself smiling unconditionally about this.

This is what I wanted. This is what I needed and searched for.

This warm fuzzy, confusing but comfortable feeling from my heart.

"For me, this was something like a good-luck charm…"

My heart swooned as I heard those words from him.

It was much like when he saved me back then with the president of the archery club pointing his bow towards me.

"This was one thing that I absolutely couldn't part with. Even though it's in tatters and half torn."

I felt like I was showered slowly in a warm ray of sunlight going through my chest passing through every part of my being.

"Thank you very much. Thank you so much…"

My eyes grew mistier for the third time that day.

"If you were able to come back like this because of that…"

My voice faltering as it cracks parts on the way of my statements

"I couldn't be happier."

That statement itself was so very true. A wave of relief and happiness washed over me.

"Did I make you sad again?"

I so tempted so say yes, to say that I broke down because of him.

But no, he couldn't be more wrong with his question.

"No, I'm just happy… That's all it is to it." I replied as tears formed around my eyes and I refused to let them out.

"I don't really get it but please don't cry."

As soon as I heard those, it completely did the opposite of what it was supposed to do.

I felt his hands hold mine and I felt how strong, how firm and how toned he was from all of that plundering around the world.

"It's impossible." I said my voice faltering ever more as I rubbed his hand with my small thumbs.

At every fibre of my soul, I can honestly say that this man is the one I absolutely love the most in my life.

He made me smile and he made me cry regaining my ability to comprehend my own emotions again.

He is my other half, the one that made me feel as if I was full again.

The one that repaired fractured heart to be as one again.

So with all of my conviction, I look towards him tears still falling from my face.

"Yu Otosaka-kun… Welcome back."

 **A/N: This scene is really my favourite from the entire series! So that's why I made a story about it reflecting on Nao's thoughts of that time and how she would be like at that particular time.**


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